Fostering a community of best practice

Established in 2006 as a not-for-profit i2e was created to foster and promote an awareness of manufacturing excellence and better practice within the Victorian business community.

Today Insights is more relevant than ever playing an important role for Australian manufacturing and service based industries, supporting a more sustainable community of better practice i2e increasingly embraces health and supply chain sectors.

Simple and brilliant at the same time i2e uses proven experiential knowledge transfer methodology we call an Insight that pairs exemplar hosts with aspiring participant enterprises looking to improve. Being on similar journeys to excellence, host and participant enterprises exchange ideas, concepts and process thinking benefiting both host and participant.

Discussion at a host Gemba further refine and improve the participants understanding; they are encouraged by the host to tailor the concepts to their own operation and ‘Steal with Pride’. Insight’s typically lasts three to four hours, are facilitated by an experienced practitioner who supports the host to ensure participants experience better practice and are able to take-away key learnings.

Australian Insights began in 2002, inspired by similar tech diffusion initiatives operating at that time in the UK and Canada entitled ‘Inside UK Enterprise’ and ‘Innovation Insights’ respectively. Today Insights operate in many advanced economies, transforming businesses, operations and industries.

Underpinned by an impeccable track record in program delivery, i2e continues to work with funding partners such as Victorian and Tasmanian Governments to further develop the Insights model. From an original innovation focus Insights has expanded to currently embrace the public offerings of; Supply Chain, Service, Design and Sustainability Insights. Supported by an increasing number of private and international events shaped around the specific needs and timing of an enterprise.

i2e are said to be the ‘Ideas Factory’ - A place where participants learn from the best, share experiences, in a supportive community pursuing better practice.

Landmark events for i2e include Jayco Caravans sharing excellence with the 4,000th Innovation Insight participant in 2006 and 2010 seeing Black Widow hosting the 7,000th participant.

Jim Glover
Insights to Excellence

Jim Glover
Principal
Insights To Excellence

A passionate and practical Lean/Toyota Production System (TPS) coach and Six Sigma Black Belt with 25 years’ experience in manufacturing & quality management, training and consulting,
“I hope I lead by example, am hard working, humble and persistent.  I am committed to work with people to help them grow and achieve their true potential through Lean & Continuous Improvement”
Jim has a proud pedigree in assisting organizations and individuals develop their Lean capability through the practical application of Lean Thinking and the systems of Operational Excellence. This has primarily involved leadership coaching, mentoring and training & development as a means to transforming organizational culture in Australia since 2001.
Jim has held senior global Lean positions at Boeing, Futuris Automotive Interiors and, more recently Vistaprint; leading their Deer Park plant to receive a Shingo Award; thus becoming the first Australasian business, the first print company globally and the youngest plant ever to achieve this level of recognition. The Shingo Prize, housed at The John Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University, is often referred to as the “Nobel Prize for Operational Excellence” and is widely considered the most rigorous and prestigious global benchmark for Operational Excellence there is.
In addition to this, Jim has also spent 6 years consulting and training with Invetech (a Danaher company) for a wide range of Blue Chip companies such as Coca Cola, Porsche, Mazda, ResMed and Elders. Prior to this, Jim a spent many years working in operations management and manufacturing systems roles within the UK and specifically the European automotive sector for Siemens VDO, Nippon Seiki and TRW.
Major achievements over a diverse career include:

• Shingo Bronze Medallion 2014
• Head of Lean and architect behind Futuris’ Global Production System (GPS); deployed widely across South East Asia, China and North America;
• Founding of the Innovation Insights™ program for the Victorian Government; a public program of best practice industry visits, workshops and plant tours;
• Establishing and facilitating the Victorian Food Industry High Performance Consortia (VFIHPC);
• Co-developing and delivering the Lean Dealer™ vehicle dealership program with International Car Dealership Program (ICDPA);
• Implementing pioneering flow and pull production to Boeing’s 787 fabrication program in Melbourne;
• Six Sigma Black Belt (PMI)
• Management of the relocation of VDO-Siemens’ European vehicle instrumentation division; and
• Lean transformation of VDO-Siemens’ fuel sender business unit.

Jim currently combines his principal role at Insights with consulting and training to Australian Industry in Lean Principles and Competitive Systems and Practices to Diploma Level.
Specialist areas: 

• Shingo Operational Excellence Model
• Lean Leadership
• Kaizen Culture
• Quality Management Systems &
• Practical Problem Solving / Root Cause Analysis

Jim lives in Melbourne with his partner Lisa and three children, Ellie, Jacob and Hannah.
Jim Glover: jim@i2e.org.au - 0417 569 874